Categories

Meta

Beer Illuminati

Beer Review: Founder’s Backwoods Bastard Scotch Ale

One of my favorite dark beer releases every year and one of my favorite beers to stick in the cellar. Founder’s Backwoods Bastard is their Wee Heavy Scotch Ale aged in bourbon barrels. This beast of a beer is released yearly in the winter months and is one of the best beers to warm you up on a cold night.

Appearance: Cloudy dark brown, what little head from the pour dissipates quickly. Decent lacing down the glass.

Nose: Huge bourbon nose with vanilla and oak making serious contributions as well. Lots of chocolate, cocoa, toffee and caramel all of those huge malt notes. You really get the bourbon in the nose more than many of the other Bourbon Barrel Aged beers. You can feel the heat in the aroma.

Taste/Mouth: Bourbon, coffee, chocolate, oak and sweet malt notes. Good amount of malt, booze and sweetness to balance out the strong bourbon flavors. Light carbonation and lighter mouthfeel than you would expect from such a dark beer. Pretty drinkable for 10%. Really an extremely deep and complex beer, more and more flavors come out and develop as it warms up.

Price/Availability: 4 pack for around $10 and an annual release, pretty easy to get in the Midwest.

Overall: Without some time in the cellar it is a little heavy on the bourbon flavors but with time this beer becomes perfect. That small flaw is really nothing though in retrospect of how amazing this beer is. One of my favorite malt bombs out there and certainly one of the best bourbon barrel aged options.